How to Make Spending New Year's Eve at Home More Fun

Ringing in the New Year at home? With a little planning, you can make it the best New Year's Eve ever. Here are a few suggestions.

Instructions

Step 1: Do what you like Throw out any preconceived ideas of what you "should" be doing on New Year's Eve; there's no law that says you have to drink champagne or watch the ball drop at midnight.

Step 2: Splurge on a decadent meal Splurge on a decadent home-cooked meal: Even luxury foods are a bargain when you consider how much you'd pay at a restaurant -- especially on New Year's Eve, when prices are usually jacked up.

TIP: If you're ordering in, get it early; New Year's Eve is one of the biggest takeout nights of the year, so kitchens get backed up.

Step 3: Attend a show Instead of watching predictable televised New Year's Eve celebrations, rent a concert or Broadway show. If you have a large flat-screen TV, you'll feel like you're actually there -- only with a better view of the stage, more comfortable seats, and tastier snacks.

Step 4: Create an arcade Turn your home or garage into an arcade for the night by renting some games and tables; companies in many cities rent them out. To find one, type "rent arcade games" and your location into a search engine.

Step 6: Go to bed Don't feel obligated to stay up until midnight unless you want to. After all, the New Year is already nearly a day old in Kiribati, a South Pacific island nation that's the first place in the world to ring it in. So if you live anywhere else, you're just playing catch up anyway.

FACT: Legendary bandleader Guy Lombardo began the tradition of playing the song "Auld Lang Syne" on New Year's Eve on December 31, 1929, when his orchestra played it on a New Year's radio broadcast.